Thursday, December 6, 2012

Admittedly, the witch joke at the beginning of the video
may have been a little graphic, but that’s what I always think of when I hear the
legend of how these cookies supposedly got their name. As the story goes, when
these sweet treats first made their appearance, people that tasted them were so
taken by the sheer awesomeness, that they went nuts and started running around
shouting, “Whoopie!! Whoopie!!”

Sure they did. This seems very exaggerated, but no matter
how they got the “whoopie” part, at least the rest of the name is not accurate
either. That’s right, not only is this cookie not a pie, this pie isn’t even a
cookie…it’s really a little cake. Confused? Me too, and I just wrote that.

Anyway, despite the dubious name, and the other dubious
name, at least the gingerbread part is accurate. Although, now that I think
about it, it’s not really a ”bread”…okay, this has to stop. With holiday cookie
exchanges in full swing, the only thing I can say with certainty is that these
whatever-they-are’s were very delicious, fun to make, and I hope you give them
a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 9 to 12 finished Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
(depending on the size!)

View the complete recipe Flour portioning note: It is critical to weigh the flour for this recipe to work as seen in the video. 10 ounces by weight is about 2 cups by volume, but because flour can become quite compressed in the bag or canister, portioning bycup is not very accurate. If you are not going to weigh, only add about a cup and a half of flour, proceed as shown, and if the batter seems too thin after mixing, addmore flour, little by little, until you have the thick batter seen in the video.

Chef John, when you use melted butter why is it so creamy looking? Almost like heavy cream. It's very white. Is there a special brand or kind of butter you use. When I use melted butter it is always very yellow and separates.

Been watching your videos for ages now and I finally worked up the courage to start up a food blog. I only have one food blog post up (man, editing pictures takes a lot more work than I thought they would...props to you!). Anyways I would love comments for feedback/advice on how to improve everything. My pictures aren't the best quality since I'm a broke college student who can't afford a proper camera (using my phone camera)! But I hope you do check it out! I'm open to any type of suggestions (especially an efficient way to edit photos)

Don't think so, as I've heard from several people that have tried it that it came out great. But if there is an error on measurements, I'll hear from many more people about it. BTW, did you weigh the flour? You may have packed your cups which adds more.

Chef John,Well now that Devil Dogs have gone the way of the dodo bird, this looks to be my new favorite cookie/pie/cake/thingy. I've never really liked frosting on cake. People tell me that's really weird. They're right.Can you tell me what I would have to tweak to make a chocolate version to satisfy my Devil Dog withdrawal symptoms?

Chef - I'm making these for a cookie exchange but would like the filling to have a lemon flavor ... I have lemons, but juice or zest? Don't want to make the filling runny with too much juice - any advice would be so appreciated!

Firstly, I wanted to say thank you for the great videos, you're my biggest inspiration for picking up cooking. I tried this recipe recently and it turned out alright but the gingerbread cake rounds wound up looking kind of flat (I weighed the flour instead of measuring it with cups). Any insight as to what I might have done wrong?

Made these yesterday for our neighborhood firefighters as part of the #26Actsofkindness, and they loved them. Two of the guys apparently watch your videos and knew where I got the recipe, AND knew better than to shout "whoopie!" So cute

Hi Chef John,How can I make these into chocolate pies instead of gingerbread? I tried substituting with a tbsp of unsweetened cocoa but that didn't seem to do anything at all. The texture of the pies came out great, but flavor was blan. Any suggestions? Thank you! Love your videos & recipes!!!